In a two-minute video, actor Shoshana B Roberts was told to smile, told, “Somebody is acknowledging you for being beautiful – you should say thank you,” and comments were made about her clothes and appearance.

At one point in the video, which has been viewed nearly 5m times in fewer than 24 hours, a man walked alongside her silently for five minutes.

Another followed her, while offering to give her his number.

“The rape threats indicate that we are hitting a nerve,” Hollaback director Emily May told Newsday. “We want to do more than just hit a nerve though, we want New Yorkers to realize – once and for all – that street harassment isn’t OK, and that as a city we refuse to tolerate it.”